Mini Avon Naturals Overview

6 August, 2009

Ah, Avon. When I was young, the catalogues were an absolute dream, and it seemed like there were at least a dozen people in the town who sold it-including a lady who lived in a house that is now occupied by somebody who I would like to never see again. As I got older, it got to be about cheapie items that went even cheaper on clearance. I remember trying some old cream shadows, some dual-ended eye pencils, perfumes…you name it. In the last few years, they completely redid their Naturals line, which is their fragrant bodycare. Sure, they’ve had Skin So Soft for eons. But this? It tops many of the BBW offerings. First of all, there’s an interesting selection of fragrances. Sure, they don’t have the super-exotics. These are meant to be the everyday fragrances-although most all Avon perfumes do have coordinating bodycare-lotion, shower gel, body powder, and in some cases, body cream. Second, the fragrances themselves are way better, for reasons that I will go into below. Third, it’s insanely cheaply priced. Very rarely would you have to pay full price, because it goes on sale so often.

First up is one of their newer fragrances-Coconut/Lemongrass. This, when I hear it, makes me think of Thai food, which uses both of those ingredients quite liberally. But for a fragrance? It’s very unexpected. You have the sweetness of the coconut melding with the citrusy-green that the lemongrass gives, and the coconut does not overpower. In short, it won’t smell like tanning oil. My mum is very picky and almost totally avoids coconut scents, as my dad hates it. But she loved it and we each have some shower gels, what can I say?

Their Apple/Honeysuckle is a very interesting combination, and a quite unexpected one. However the thing is that the apple has a tartness to it, but many times the noses will play up the sweetness of the apple, which I hate. I loved their old Harvest Apple (which I still have a bottle of in lotion form) and this is very similar. The honeysuckle, on the other hand, is not a sweet floral, like a rose. It has a bit of a tartness to it, which blends quite beautifully with the apple so that you get the tartness, and then a subtle floral. This is how to do a fruity-floral RIGHT.

The Blackberry/Vanilla is just that-you get the smell of freshly-picked blackberries, and you get vanilla. Berry and vanilla together is the basis of many fragrances for younger girls and it plays up the sweetness, and it’s honestly sickening. Blackberry is sweet, yes, but it’s also got more tartness than a raspberry or a strawberry. The vanilla is good, and some people may compare this to BBW’s Black Raspberry Vanilla-and the latter loses. I’m sorry, but no matter what it just smelled rotten all the time to me except in the perfume. The home fragrance was particularly horrendous. I definitely recommend this one.

Papaya/Kiwi-those are notes that you do not see often. Together? Never. However, to me, this is one that Avon hit it out of the park on. Papaya is naturally sweet, and kiwi is sweet-tart. Together, they are absolutely amazing. The scent itself is nice and subtle as well, so it won’t totally knock you out. This is an absolute must for people who are disappointed with BBW not offering as many good fruity scents, or for somebody who is looking for something fun and interesting to wear.

The Strawberry/Guava was deemed by my mum as being too sweet, so she gifted me the ones she got with her spring PWP to me! I love it because it’s not overwhelming. You get the strawberry, you get the guava. Sure, it’s sweet, but it’s a natural, not chemical sweet. Guava is a supremely underrated note, and I would be interested in smelling a pure guava lotion because I love my tropical fruits! Together with the natural sweet-tartness of the strawberries, it’s a very nice scent. It would be best for younger audiences, but fragrance tastes are all relative.

The final one I’m profiling today (I already own the Pomegranate/Mango, and reviewed them in January) is the Cucumber Melon. This is such an easy scent to **** up, and BBW did that handily. Cucumber should have a green crispness, and melon should have a tart sweetness. None of this creamy, rotten crap that they have been passing off for years! To me, if I put it on my skin (and I am not the only one), it smells like it’s burning. Fragrances turn easily on my skin, but I am not the only one who had it happen to them. This is exactly how it should smell-blending a cucumber and a melon together! While I don’t have any yet, the current brochure has a deal of 5 products, between the Naturals and another bodycare line, for $12. I am definitely stocking up.

The one downside is that many fragrances are just seasonal, and others go fast. For example, I would love to have their Raspberry, which is the only good pure raspberry fragrance I have ever smelled. Also, I’m wanting Peony/Pear. Badly. I love my Peony!

This is in no way designed to slam BBW and make me sound like a bitter former employee. I quite like a few of their fragrances! However, the thing that gets me is that they don’t do enough quality fruity fragrances, and many of their other “popular” ones are not well-constructed. Fragrance is like building a house. They also have become way more chemical in recent years, which is fine, but I like the natural aspects. I also find that their lotions and my skin aren’t exactly the best of friends, sadly.